Combined helicopter and aeroplane



Sept. 5,1933. A. v 'sANTARslERo COMBINED HELICOPTER AND AEROPLANE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Sept. 25, 1931 INVENTOR i. Z/dwtansz'cro ATTORNEY Sept. 5, 1933. A. v. sANTARslERo COMBINED HELICOPTER AND AEROPLANE original lFiled sept. 25, 195i 5 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR Alfahfarz'em BY i ATTORNEY Sept. 5, 1933.A A. v. sANTARslERo Y COMBIND HELICOPTER `AND AEROPLANE V Original Filed Sept. 25, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 5., 1933 COMBINED HELICOPTER AND AEROPLANE Anthony V. Santarsiero, Bronx, N. Y., assignor of one-half to George Pall, New York, N. Y.

Application September 23, 1931, Serial No. 564,687

Renewed June `19, 1933 7 clams. (el. 244-15) This invention relates to a combined helicopter and aeroplane.

An object of'the inventionis the provision of an aeroplane having incorporated therein means for elevating the plane directly above the spot where it rests, thus eliminatingA long runways and for permitting the plane to be landed from points overhead. l

Another object of the invention is the provision of an aeroplane having an air tunnel having a driven propeller at the forward open end for forcing air through the tunnel which acts upon a motorwhich in turn drives av pair of propellers located at the front of the aeroplane and cooperating with the main central propeller for ,propelling the vehicle.

A further object ofthe invention is the'provision of an aeroplane in which a clutch mechanism is adapted to connect or disconnect the main propeller from the engine.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of an aeroplane equipped with wheelsand pontoons, the wheels being cushioned by means of/springs and'movable towards the fuselage so /that when the pontoons are being employed the wheels will be in an inoperative position and will not interfere with the supporting of the plane by the pontons.

Another object of the invention is the provi,

sion of horizontally disposed propellers located adjacent openings'of the wings of the aeroplane which co-operate with movable vanes in adjacent openings in` the wings for aiding in elevatingor lowering the plane in a substantially-vertical une. L

`This invention will be best understood from a4 consideration of the following detailed descrip- -lever 27, a link 28 and an operating handle 29.

'the shaft 37 so that the sleeve is rotatable independently of said shaft. A gear 43 is secured the sleeve 42 and meshes with a gear 44 sealong the line 10-10 of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly t'o the drawings, 20 and 21 designate the wingsof a biplane which extend laterally from'a fuselage 22 which includes a cockpit 23 in which the controls are located for actuating the -various mechanisms by which the aeroplane is governed. Anengine 24 is mounted in any approved manner at the forward end of the fuselage A main propeller 25 is driven by the engine and is connected or'disconnected from said engine by a clutch mechanisnrl26 controlled by a A shaft 30 is driven by the engine .24 and has a gear 31 secured thereto in mesh with a gear 33 'which is secured toa shaft 34. 'This shaft drives a gear 35 in mesh with a gear 36 which is fixed to a shaft`3'7. The shaft 31 in turn drives a .propeller 38 located at the forward open end 39 ofanair-tunnel 40.l A wind motor, generally designated by the numeral4`1, is secured to a sleeve 42, mounted on .90

tion, in view of the accompanying drawings forni-cured Vto a shaft 45. shaft extends downing a part of the specification; nevertheless, it is to be understood that the invention is not con- .ned to the disclosure, being susceptible of such changes and modifications which shall define no 55 ljigure 5 is a plan view of a propeller when the .,wardly -through the 1 ower` wing 20.

shaft extends longitudinally ofthe wings A gear' 46 secured to the lower end of the shaft 45 meshesvwith a gear 47 which is secured to a shaft 48. lA gear 49 is secured to the shaft 48 andmeshes with a gear 50 secured to a shaft 51.

and'ga. gear 52 secured to the shaft 51 meshes with a'g'earsa secured to a propeller shaft 54. said shaft drives va propeller 55 located at the right ,hand end of the aeroplane as shown in Fig. 1. A similar set of intermeshing gears 52a and 53 drives a. propeller. shaft-57 which is connected to 105 theshaft v 56 by the-intermeshing gears.

It will be noted from an inspection of Figs. 2 and 4 that vthe lupper wing 20 is provided with 'openings 60 and'61 over which are adapted to be revolved lifting -propellers A62 and 63, 'respective- 110 ly. The propeller 62 is driven by a shait 641' while the propeller 63 is driven by a shaft 65.

The wing 21 is provided with openings 66 and 67 located at opposite sides of the fuselage 22 over which are revolved propellers 68 and 69, respectively. The propeller 68 is secured to the shaft 64 while the propeller 69 is secured to the shaft 65.

A gear 70 is secured to a shaft 30P- and meshes with a gear 71 secured to` a shaft 72. The lastmentioned shaft extends through the fuselage 22 and towards the left portion of the wing 21 and a gear 73 secured to the outer end oi the shaft '72 meshes with a gear 71.1. which is secured to the shaft 64.

A gear 75 is secured to the shaft 76 and meshes with the gear '70 which drives a gear 77 meshing with a gear 78 secured to the shaft 85.

A clutch mechanism 80 is adapted to connect or disconnect the shaft 39 with the shaft 30. A lever 81 operates the clutch mechanism through alink 82 connected to a hand lever 83 which is adjacent the cockpit.

A clutch mechanism 85 is operated by an arm 88, a lever 87, a link 88 and a hand lever 89 located adjacent the cockpit and within easy reach of the aviator.

On opposite sides oi the openings 60 and 61 in the wing 20 are located elongated openings 90 and 91. Each of the openings is closed by vanes 92 or 93. These vanes are hingedly mounted at 94 intermediate the side walls of the openings and are controlled by springs 95 :for maintaining the vanes closed. Cables 96 are connected to the vanes 92 and in turn these cables are connected to a single cable 97 which 'is trained over a pulley 98. A cable 99 is connected to the cable 97 at 100 and extends inwardly to the cockpit where it maybe operated by the aviator.

A second cable V101 extends from the cockpit, to which is secured, at 102, a cable 103 trained over an idler pulley 104. A pair of cables 105 extend upwardly from the cable 193 and are connected to the vanes 93. The cable 99 extends over an idler pulley (not shown) which is in line with the pulley 98 and a pair of cables extend downwardly, as shown at 106, and are connected to a pair of vanes 107 which are hingedly mounted on the left portion of the wing 21 and are maintained in closed position by means of springs similar to the springs 95 as shown in Figs. 1 and 4 for maintaining the vanes in position.

A pair of vanes 110 located at the right hand end of the wing 21 for closing openings 111, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, are hingedly mounted and are normally maintained in closed position by springs (not shown). Cables 112 are connected to the vanes 110 and extend over an idler pulley, not shown, which is in alignment with the pulley 10i and are connected to the cable 101 as shown at 102.

toons located upon opposite sides of a pair of supporting wheels 121 and are-carried by struts 122.

The wheels are supported by an aXle 125 which is carried by rods 126 movable through the base member 127 of a U-shaped bracket 128 which is secured to a hinge 129 carried bythe underface of the wing 21. The upper endsy of .the rods 126 are rigidly secured to a cross head 130 and springs renonce the cross head 130 to move inwardly, thereby reducing shocks to the aeroplane.

When the wheels are in their` normal operative underface of the wing 21. When it is desired,

however, to move the wheels 121 to an inoperative position in order to permit the pontoons 120 to rest upon the surface of a body of water, it is only necessary to exert a pull on a rod 140 whereby the base member 127 of the bracket 128 is moved out of engagement with the ilanges 132 and the wheels are moved inwardly and out of a position where they would interferewith the operation oi the pontoons.

The wings as is usual are provided with ailerons 145, a rudder 146 and elevators 147 and these last-mentioned elements are controlled in the usual manner and therefore their operating mech anism which forms no part of the present invention are not disclosed.

The operation 'of my device is as follows: The engine is started in any approved manner and when the Aclutch 26 is properly actuated through the lever 29 and the propeller 25 is connected with the engine and the aeroplane is ready for night. However, the clutch member 85 is shifted to connect the'shat 34 with the shaft 30 whence the propeller 38 will be driven and since Vthis propeller forces through the air tunnel 40 the wind motor el will be driven, thereby operating the shaft 45, the shafts 48 and 51, so that the auxiliary propellers 55 and 57 will likewise be driven and will aid in pulling the machine for. wardly.

It will also be noted that after the propeller 38 is driven it will also aid in the pulling movement of the plane. Y

When it is desired to elevate the plane directly above the ground, the clutch mechanism 30 is operated so that the shaft 30 will be driven and likewise gears 70, 71 and 75. Therefore, the shafts 72 and 76 will be driven and likewise shafts 64 and 65 for causing rotation of the propellers 68 and 69 and likewise the propellers V62 and 63 in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figs. 2 and i. It will be noted that these proB pellers move in opposite directions or inwardly towards each other and they are so constructed that they will tend at all times to drive the air down wardly in order to elevate the plane.

As an additional aid in elevating the plane the cables 99 and 101 are actuated, thereby ope the vanes 92, 93, 107 and 110. The opening of these vanes reduces the resistance of the air on the wings 20 and 21 so that as the propellers pre= viously mentioned are operated in the directions indicated by the arrows,- the plane will be ele-2 vated. It will be appreciated also that the plane by the control of the propellers of the helicopter type will' also permit the plane to be lowered at The bottom of the wing 21 is provided with pon` will from a vertical without requiring long run ways for the purpose.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 5 to 7, inclusive, it will be seen that the propeller, desY ignated by the numerals 62, and which is representative of the type of the other lifting propel- 1ers 63, 68 and 69, is constructed in a different manner from the main propeller 25 or the auxiliary propellers 55 and 57. These propeller-s have a narrow width, as shown at 170, where they are connected to a hub 171. They are expanded until the greatest width, shown at 172, appears at their outer ends. The blades oi the propellers and 69.

have a slight twist so that the air will be forced downwardly and they will all act simultaneously for lifting the aeroplane 'directly from the ground and in a vertical plane.

It will be appreciated that the invention thus described has been applied to a biplane but theA several operating devices may be equally Well adapted for use on monoplanes. When the invention is so employed only one set of vanes will be necessary to close a pair of elongated openings in each single wing and only one set of; cables will be necessary to` operate these wings. Furthermore, there will be only one pair of circular openings over which will be placed the propellers similar to the propellers numbered 68 I claim:

1. In a combined helicopter and aeroplane l having openings in the Wings thereof, propellers mounted for rotation above said openings for aiding in lifting the aeroplane directly off the ground, means for driving said propellers, the Wings having elongated openings adjacent the first-mentioned openings, a pair of hinged vanes for eachv of the elongated openings, and means for simultaneously operating all of the vanes, the vanes being hingedly mounted longitudinally and centrally of the openings, the free ends of the vanes at an opening being located in opposite directions from each other.

2. In an aeroplane, an engine, a main propeller driven by the engine, a wind tunnel supported centrally on a wing and having an open front end, a propeller at the open end, means for driving the last-mentioned'propeller from the engine,-

a wind motor in the tunnel and operated by the air passing through said tunnel, an auxiliary propeller located at each side of the main propeller, means operatively-connecting the wind motor with the auxiliary propeller.

3. In an aeroplane, an engine, a main propel-v ler driven by the engine, a wind tunnel supported centrally on a wing and having an open front end, a propeller at the open end, means for driving the last-,mentioned propeller from the engine, a wind motor in the tunnel and operated by the air passing through said tunnel, an auxiliary propeller located at each side of the main propeller, means operatively connecting the wind motor with the auxiliary propeller, and means for connecting or disconnecting the second-mentioned propeller and the engine.

4. In an aeroplane, an engine, a main propeller driven by the engine, a wind tunnel supported centrally on a Wing and having an open front end, a propeller at the open end, means for driving the last-mentioned propeller from the engine, a wind motor in the tunnel and operated by the air passing through said tunnel, an auxiliary propeller located at each side of the main propeller, means operatively connecting the wind motor with the auxiliary propeller, the last-mentioned means including means for disconnecting the auxiliary propellers from the engine.

5. In a combined helicopter and aeroplane having openings in the wings thereof at opposite sides of the fuselage, the opening in one wing being aligned with opening in the other wing, a lifting -propeller mounted above each opening, a

vertically disposed shaft located axially of a pair of aligned openings at each side of the fuselage, the propellers above a pair of the aligned openings being secured to the shaft located axially of the openings, an engine, means operatively connecting the shafts with the engine, auxiliary propellers located forwardly of the lifting propellers and confined between horizontal planes passing through the wings of the aeroplane.

6. In a combined helicopter and aeroplane having a pair of elongated openings iny each wing, vanes hingedly mounted in the openings, the

" hinged edges of the vanes in each wingbeing adjacent to each other, and means for moving the vanes to an open position.

7. In a combined helicopterand aeroplane, a propeller, an engine for driving said propeller, auxiliary propellers, a wind tunnel having the opposite ends thereof open, means connected with the engine for driving air through said tunnel, a motor in the tunnel and actuated by the air passing through said tunnel and operatively connected with the auxiliary propellers, and means for controlling actuation of the auxiliary propellers and included in the connections between the air driving means and the engine.

ANTHONY V. SANTARSIERO. 

